Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 4:8
And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spoke unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
8. unto the place ] “On the upper terrace of the plain of the Jordan, which became the centre of the first sanctuary of the Holy Land the first place pronounced ‘holy,’ the sacred place of the Jordan valley (Jos 5:10-15), where the Tabernacle remained till it was fixed at Shiloh” (Jos 18:1).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Laid them down there – i. e. in Gilgal Jos 4:20. Spoken of as the doers of this, because it was done by the twelve who acted for them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
8. the children of Israel did so asJoshua commandedthat is, it was done by their twelverepresentatives.
Jos4:9. TWELVE STONESSET UPIN THE MIDST OFJORDAN.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded,…. That is, the twelve men taken out of the twelve tribes of Israel, and who were the representatives of them in this action;
and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; they took the exact number, and out of the very place Joshua was ordered to direct them to do:
and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged: which, as Josephus says i, was fifty furlongs from Jordan, which was above six miles; so far they carried these stones on their shoulders:
and laid them down there; which afterwards were put in proper order by Joshua, or at least by his direction.
i Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8-9) According to the number of the tribes. . . .Every tribe was represented by a stone on either side Jordan. The two cairns represent a complete Israel in the wilderness, and a complete Israel in the promised land. Thou shalt remember all the way that the Lord thy God led thee. By the grace of God I am what I am.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Israel did so They did so by their twelve representatives, according to the old law-maxim: Qui facit per allure, facit per se “He who acts through another acts through himself.”
And laid them down They did not construct them into a monument. This Joshua did afterwards. Jos 4:20.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And the children of Israel did so, as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan as YHWH spoke to Joshua, in accordance with the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and set them down there.’
This was what they had been commanded to do and this was what they did. The overall stress is that they were obedient to what YHWH commanded. They took up twelve stones from the bed of the river, one for each of the tribes of Israel, and carried them to the place where they lodged that night.
Notice the stress that all Israel was involved in the act of the twelve men. The men did it as their representatives, but it was all Israel who were doing it. This was stressed by the plural ‘you’ in Jos 4:2, and now here.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jos 4:8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
Ver. 8. And the children of Israel did so, ] i.e., The twelve select men, representing the whole people.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED TEXT): Jos 4:8-13
8Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there. 9Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. 10For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed; 11and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed before the people. 12The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them; 13about 40, 000 equipped for war, crossed for battle before the LORD to the desert plains of Jericho.
Jos 4:8 the middle This term (BDB 1063) must be translated brink (cf. Jos 3:17; Jos 4:3; Jos 4:5; Jos 4:8-10; Jos 4:18) because if the memorial was in the middle of the Jordan it would never be seen. The Levitical priests stood on the brink of the eastern side (cf. Jos 3:8; Jos 3:13). If it was on the brink of the Jordan it would be visible for many months of the year when the water was down to its normal level. Many scholars assert that there are two different accounts of the same event here, but it seems obvious to me that there are two different piles of stones.
Jos 4:9 and they are there to this day This phrase until this day is used often in Joshua which implies a book edited at a later period. This may mean a relatively short time after the events (contemporary editor) or a longer, protracted time (cf. Jos 4:9; Jos 5:9; Jos 7:26; Jos 8:28-29; Jos 9:27; Jos 10:27; Jos 13:13; Jos 14:14; Jos 15:63; Jos 16:10). The scribes of Mesopotamia copied their texts without alteration, but the scribes of Egypt updated their texts. Israel’s scribes were trained in Egypt. The Scripture was God’s word, but it could be updated (as the difference between Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 clearly shows).
Jos 4:10 The priests who carried the heavy gold-covered Ark of the Covenant were growing tired, so the people crossed rapidly (see end of Jos 4:10).
according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua The Jewish Publication Society of America (JPSOA) thinks this refers to Deu 31:7-8.
Jos 4:12 the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them It would be very helpful at this point to read Num 32:20-22 and Deu 3:18-20 to see that although these tribes had their allocation on the eastern side of the Jordan, they were required to help their brothers to secure the Promised Land.
Jos 4:13 One wonders whether this number applies to only the three tribes who settled on the eastern side of the Jordan or to the whole Israeli army. The other major empires of the regions during this period had armies of about 40,000.
The Hebrew term thousand can mean (1) a literal thousand (cf. Gen 20:16; Exo 32:28); (2) a family unit (cf. Jos 22:14; Jdg 6:15; 1Sa 23:23; Zec 9:7); or (3) a military unit (cf. Exo 18:21; Exo 18:25; Deu 1:15; compare 2Sa 10:18 with 1Ch 19:18). See Special Topic at Jos 3:17.
NASBto the desert plains of Jericho
NKJV, NRSVto the plains of Jericho
TEVto the plain near Jericho
NJBtowards the plain of Jericho
JPSOAthe lowlands of Jericho.
Jericho was located in the Rift Valley that runs through Palestine. Often in the OT it was lush with foliage, but later it was mostly treeless.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
as = according as.
took up. Four things said of these memorial stones in Jos 4:8 and Jos 4:9, (1) taken up; (2) carried over; (3) laid down; (4) set up.
there. See note on Jos 8:30.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
did so as Joshua: Jos 4:2-5, Jos 1:16-18
Reciprocal: Exo 24:4 – according Jos 4:3 – leave them Jos 4:20 – General 1Sa 15:12 – he set him 1Sa 17:54 – took the head